Searching for justice for the Lost Girls

Lost Girls (Netflix, 2020). Directed by Liz Garbus, screenplay by Michael Werwie, based on the book Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker.   Late one night in May 2010, a young woman made a frantic call to 911. She was calling from Oak Beach, an affluent residential area in rural Long Island. Visibly distressed, she...

The victim’s voice in Netflix’s Unbelievable

Lynnwood, Washington, 2008: a young woman named Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever) awakes to find an intruder in her apartment. The masked man ties her up and rapes her. The next morning Marie reports her assault to the police. After submitting to a physical examination, and repeating an account of her sexual assault several times, the...

A look at youth culture in Irish film and television: 2003-2017

In 2016-17, I completed an MA in English, specialising in Irish Writing and Film, at University College Cork. As part of the course, everyone in my class was required to set up and regularly update a blog. The idea of the blog initially filled my classmates and me with dread, as blogging was completely uncharted territory for...

A reassessment of ‘Poor Polidori’: a look at the life and times of John William Polidori

“ 'We will each write a ghost story', said Lord Byron, and his proposition was acceded to. There were four of us” (Shelley, Author's Introduction, 7). The above quote is from Mary Shelley's introduction to her 1818 novel Frankenstein and refers to the fateful night in the summer of 1816 where Lord Byron ordered the guests gathered at...

Picnic at Hanging Rock: “The arse end of the world.” Colonialism and escape in the Australian wilderness

In the late summer of 2018, RTÉ 2 aired the Australian set period drama Picnic at Hanging Rock. An adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s 1967 novel of the same name, the six-part series tells the story of the disappearance of three schoolgirls and their teacher in 1900 Australia. This is the second major screen adaptation of...

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Hidden lives and conflicting identities in The Assassination of Gianni Versace

The second season of American Crime Story ended its run on RTÉ last month. Entitled The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the series focuses on the crimes of Andrew Cunanan, a disturbed young man who killed five people over a few months in 1997. The celebrated fashion designer Gianni Versace became Cunanan final victim on the 15th July. As...

Five Daughters and Murdered By My Boyfriend: Giving a human face to the victims of crime

The following article looks at two BBC productions that recounted true incidents of violence against women. The three-part drama Five Daughters aired on BBC One in April 2010. Written by Stephen Butchard, the mini-series revolves around the Ipswich serial killer case, when Steve Wright murdered five young women during the winter of 2006. The BAFTA...